Therapeutic device



Dec. 28, 1937; A. c. KLECKNER 2,103,371

THERAPEUT I C DEV 1' CE Filed April 2l 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet l Dec. 28, 1937. A. c. KLECKNER 2,103,371

THERAPEUTIC DEVICE Filed April 21, 1934 3 Sheets Sheet 2 Dec. 28, 1937. A c KLECKNER 2,103,371

THERAPEUT IC DEV I CE Filed April 21, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Q I 2 ww Patented Dec. 28, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE THERAPEUTIC DEVICE Arthur C. Kieclmer, Racine, Wis.

Application April 21, 1934, Serial N0. 721,684

6 Claims. (01. 128-401) This invention relates to therapeutic device's, upon lugs H of corner posts I! of a casing which more particularly to therapeutic devices of the surrounds the tank. type in which fluid is maintained at a desired The rn r p ts ar p vid d with nd flan es temperature and caused to circulate through a H at their upper ends and end'flanges i! at their 5 bag or applicator h h is adaptd t b l t d lower ends. Their lower flanges l1 are connected, within a body cavity to which thermo-therapeutic for example, by screws to an open base or frame treatment is to be applied, i8 which is preferably provided with resilient feet One of the objects of the present invention is I! of rubber, or other suitable material. to provide an improved therapeutic device of this At the front of the device an instrument panel type. 20 of Bakelite, or other suitable insulating mate- 10 A further object of the invention is to provide s screwed or otherwise t y secured to an improved therapeutic device of this type which the front posts I5. An open frame 2| is provided can be actuated from any level with respect to around the P nel II SO as to n l h r ws 01 the patient. a means of attachment and to provide a neat finish.

A further object of the invention is to provide At each side the frame 2! is provided with rearan improved assembly for such a device-in which r ly extending fl n 22' whereby e frame the motor and pumps may be removed as a unit h -y be attached to the corner Poets at the for service and adjustment. front of the device. The other three sides of the Other objects, advantages and capabilities of vlfl are n d y a ll member 23 wh h the invention will appear from the following deis S y bent 1' this 1 1 c a ajor 20 scription of a preferred embodiment thereof, e t n extending between the tw orner posts taken in conjunction with th accompanying I! at the rear of the machine, and its two exdrawings, in which tremities extending forwardly so as to underlie .Figure 1 is a front elevation of a therapeutic the flanges 22 previously refe e 58 shown in device embodying my invention; Fig. 2. The wall member 23 is secured by screws, 25

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof the top cover being other ta mews, t0 the co e posts 5 removed; at the "rear of the device. The flanges 22 and the 18. 3 is a sectional view of the device taken on extremities of t W member 23 e e secu ed to the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; the front corner posts I! by the same screws 2|.

Fig. 4 is a sectional detail view taken on the The housing cons i by the ont pa el 20 30 line l4 of Fig. 3; and the wall member 23 is completed by a cover Fig. 51s a sectional detail view taken on the line 25 which is Secured y means 0! ews t the 5-5 of Fig. 4; upper ends of the corner posts II. The major Fig. 6 is a sectional detail view taken on the p i f this cover II ishorlzontal a d is spaced line 6-4 of Fig. 4; substantially above the top plate l2 of the tank 35 Fig. 7 is a sectional detail view taken on the I The cover pla e 25 is provided with a lar e line of Fig. 4; central housing 26 in which the motor, herein- Flg. 8 is a sectional detail view taken on the er to be e c bed. s ocat dline H of Fig. 5; The cover plate 25 is also provided with a pair Fig. 9 is a similar view showing the control of vertical elongated housings 21 and 28 which 40 valve in a different position of adjustment; are cute-Way at the front so as to expose View Fig. 10 is a fragmentary sectional detail view the indicating means which they are adapted to taken on the line |o |o of Fig. 2 and adapted to Y The Plate is PmYmed with an showthe location of the heating and heat conopemng 29 through which projects mung tube is no! unitsnnd I 30 carried by the top plate 12 of the tank. This Fig 11 a wiring diagram filling tube is normally closed by a removable cap 3|. The cover plate 25 is provided with ventilat- Referring to the drawings, the therapeutic demg openings 32 preferably near the base and vice comprises a tank H, the lower part of which upper end i the'motor housing For conven .30 W Suitably be integral drsjwn metalconstruc iently carrying the device, a bail 33 is pivotally tion. The tank is provided with a more substan- Secured to the motor housing 25 tifll top e to which the D Dortien may Most of the operative parts of the device are e permanently red, f r xamp e, by old r; mounted upon the top plate l2 of the tank H, ing. This top plate I2 is provided with a prothis top plate being provided with openings for jecting lug l3 ateach corner. These lugs res the reception of the various devices. The electrical heating unit 34 is enclosed within a tube which is rigidly carried by a plate 35. This plate is mounted on thetop plate I? by means of screws. The effective portion of the heating unit extends through an opening 36 in the top plate l2 into the liquid 31 contained in the tank II. The heating element 34 is provided with terminals 38 whereby the electrical connections can be made. The device is provided with a thermostatic switch control 39 which is located within a container similarly mounted on the plate I! and projecting into the liquid in the tank The thermostatic switch 39 can be adjusted by a threaded spindle 40. The interior of the thermostatic switch is not disclosed in detail, since many thermostatic switch constructions are known in the art which may readily be employed for this purpose.

The top plate I2 is provided with a large central opening 4| in whichthe main motor and pump unit is mounted. On one side of this opening is provided a vertical tube 42 through which extends freely the rod 43 of a float 44. At its upper end the rod 43 is provided with a flat head 45. The housing 21 is provided with marks which indicate the appropriate level of the water. It is preferred to provide two horizontal marks slightly spaced, the location of these marks being such that satisfactory liquid level is established when the head 45 lies between them. On the other side of the large opening 4| the plate l2 carries a tube 46 which supports a thermometer 4'! with its bulb immersed in the liquid 31. The portion of the stem of the thermometer carrying the readings of the effective range of the dea vice, for example between 100 and 140 degrees F., is exposed in the cut-away portion of the vertical housing 28 into which the upper part of the thermometer projects.

The main motor and pump unit will now be described. It comprises a supporting plate 48 which has a marginal flange adapted to rest upon the top plate l2 around the opening 4|. It, is provided with a central upstanding collar 49 which receives the downwardly projecting collar 50 of an electric motor 5|. The motor 5| is rigidly secured to the plate 48 by means of a set screw 52 threaded in an opening in the collar 49 and adapted to abut against the collar 58.

The shaft of the motor 5| projects downwardly and has mounted thereon near its lower end impellers 53 and 54, these impellers being arranged to operate in a horizontal plane. The impeller 53 may be suitably made of bakelite or other suitable light material, and it comprises a circular plate 55 provided'with a square central boss 56 which is keyed, or otherwiserigidly s'ecurecL'to the extended shaft of the motor. The impeller 53 is provided with a plurality of vertical vanes 51 which may suitably be arranged substantially tangential with respect to'the boss 56.

The impeller 54 is substantially similar to but considerably smaller than the impeller 53 just described and is likewise rigidly mounted upon the It is, however, mounted at a lower level than the impeller 53 and in a different pump compartment, as will hereinafter appear. I

The housings or compartments in which the impellers 53 and 54 are located, are supported from the plate 48 by means of legs 58, 59, and 60, the location of which are shown in dotted lines on Fig. 2. The leg 68 is solid. The legs 58 and 59 are tubular and serve as conduits for the outgoing and incoming fluid being circulated by the device. The impeller 53, which may be termed the delivery or pressure impeller, is located within a housing 6| which is preferably integral with the legs 58, 59, and 69. In manufacture it is preferred to make the housing 6| together with these legs as a single casting, and to solder, braze, or otherwise secure the legs at their upper ends to the plate 48. The upper wall of the housing 6| is provided with a central opening 62. At its lower edge the housing 6| is provided with a flange 63 and above this flange it is internally threaded so as to receive a wall 64 which separates the delivery compartment 8| of the impeller 53 from the return compartment 65 of the impeller 54. The wall 64 has a central boss 64', through which the shaft of the motor extends freely, the small amount of leakage between the two pump housings being immaterial. Since the impellers 53 and 54 are quite light there is no tendency for the motor shaft to whip. One advantage of this construction isthat I may use a standard motor with an extended shaft and avoid the necessity of providing aligned bearings on separable parts of the assembly.

The return or suction housing 65 is preferably in the form of a dish-like casting having a flange 66 whereby it is secured to the flange 63, of the housing 6|. cates with the periphery of the housing 6|, preferably at a position indicated in dash-and-dot lines in Fig. 6, at the end of a peripheral pocket 61 into which the normal rotation-of the impeller 53 throws the liquid. As indicated above, the liquid enters the impeller chamber 6| through the central opening 62. Since it is preferred to have a relatively shallow tank, I provide above this opening a bafile plate 69 which prevents the formation of a vortex and the forcing into the inflatable bag or applicator of any substantial quantity of air. At its upper end the tubular leg 58 communicates with a bore 69 which, in turn, terminates at a conical valve seat 10 integrally formed with the plate 48.

The hollow leg 59 extends downwardly from a bore H, which also communicates with the the housing 65, which passage extends radially below the impeller54 and terminates in a wall 13 as the center of the impeller 54, and below this impeller. As best shown in Fig. 7, the housing 65 is provided with a tangential extension 14 on the same level as the impeller 54 so that the impeller 54 throws the liquid drawn in through the bore 59 into the extension 14. The extension 14 projects beyond the flange 63 of the housing 6| so that the discharge liquid is delivered upwardly from the extension 14.

A bore 15 communicates with the valve seat Ill in alignment with the bore 69. The bore '|5 extends into a boss 16 which is internally threaded for the purpose of receiving a connector 11 of conventional type wherebythe bore 15 may connected by means of a copper 'tube 82 to a pressure gauge 83 mounted on the rear 01' the The outgoing'conduit 58 communipanel 29 and having an indicating face 84 visible through a conveniently located opening in the panel 29.

Another bore 85 extends into the valve seat I9 in alignment with the bore II. The bore 85 is provided with a. lateral boss 88 which is internally threaded to receive a conventional connecting element 81 whereby the bore 85 is connected to a copper tube 88. The copper tube 88 communicates with a cup 89 which is integral with a nipple 99. The cup 89 and nipple 99 are mounted on the panel 29 by means of a nut element 9I.

The conical valve seat I9 receives a conical valve member 92 which is provided with longitudinal grooves 93 and 94 which are adapted to put the bore 99 into communication with the bore I5 and the bore II into communication with the bore 85, when the valve member 92 is placed in the appropriate position. The groove 93, which is intended to cooperate with the bores II and 95, to control the suction or return of fluid, is much wider, circumferentially of the valve member 92 than is the groove 94 which is intended to cooperate with the bores 89 and I5 to control the delivery of liquid under pressure.

The valve member 92 is provided with a stem 95 which projects forwardly through a suitable opening in the panel 29. Inorder to keep the valve member 92 firmly in place against the seat I9, the forward end of the seat 19 is internally threaded to receive an annular plug 96. Between this annular plug and the forward end of the valve member 92 is located a coil spring 91, normally held by the plug 98 under substantial compression. The forward end of the stem 95 has rigidly mounted thereon a handle 98 which is adapted to cooperate with two pins 99 on the panel 29, so as to limit the throw of the valve member 92 and maintain the grooves 93 and 94 in exclusive cooperation with the bores II and 85 and the bores 89 and I5, respectively. The extreme positions of the valve member 92 are shown in Figs. 8 and 9 and in these figures the hand ,lever 98 is indicated in dash-and-dot lines. It will be seen that in the position shown in Fig. 8 the grooves 93 and 94 are out of communication with the ducts 1| and 85 and 89 and I5. As the handle 98 is rotated in clockwise direction (Fig. 1), the relatively wide groove 93 establishes communication between the bores 'II and 85 before the groove 94 comes into communication with either of the bores 99 and 15. This condition correspondslto the position Suction on" marked on the panel 29. The position of the handle 98, shown in Figs. 1 and 8, is indicated in Fig. l of the drawing at Suction ofi"-. When the handle 98 is rotated slightly further it reaches a point on the panel 29 which is indicated thereon by the words Pressure off. As the clockwise rotation of the valve member 92 is continued, the point of the handle 98 approaches the position Pressure on which is shown diagrammatically in Fig. 9. In this, position the nipple 89 is delivering fluid at a pressure indicated on the pressure gauge 84 and the nipple 99 is withdrawing fluid from the inflatable bag owing to the suction created by the impeller 54.

The spindle 49, by means of which the thermostat 39 is regulated, also projects forwardly through an opening in the panel 29 and has rigidly mounted thereon a handle I99, and the movement of this handle is arrested in its extreme positions by means of a stop I9I. Adjacent this handle the panel 29 is provided with an arrow and indicia indicating the direction of duce progressively higher temperatures.

turning of the handle I99 for the purpose of increasing the degree of heat provided by the heating element 34. Alsomounted upon the panel 29 are a switch I92 for turning the motor on and oil, a switch I93 for putting a resistance I94 in series with the motor to adapt the same for direct current so that the same pumping effects are obtained with both direct and alternating current, and a switch I95 for'turning on and off the heat. A lamp I96 is arranged in parallel with the heating unit 34. This lamp is located near a transparent button I91 so that a visible signal is provided indicating to the. operator that the heat is turned on.

Current is supplied from any convenient outlet by means of a cable I98. A convenient system of wiring is shown in Fig. 11.

In order to minimize, as far as possible, the objectionable noise of, the motor when operating, particularly where a ball bearing motor is employed, I prefer to provide rubber pads I99 between the lugs I3 and I4 and to put rubber bushings II9 around the screws which secure the lugs I3 to the lugs I4. I also provide rubber pads III beneath the heads of these screws. This manner of mounting gives a completely yielding and insulated mounting for the tank assembly. In order to prevent noisy vibrations being transmitted to the panel through the pipes 82 and 88, i

I prefer to provide a gap in these pipes and to connect the spaced ends by means of pieces of heavy rubber tubing H2 and H3, respectively.

As indicated above, the nipples 89 and 99 are mounted on the panel 29 and project forwardly therefrom. These nipples are adapted to receive lengths of heavy rubber tubing I I4 and I I5 which are, in turn, connected to an applicator I I8 of known type. Such applicators are normally formed of rubber of convenient shape for the body cavity for which they are intended and they are normally provided with an internal septum which causes the incoming water to flow to the innermost end and thereafter to return on the other side of the septum to the return nipple 99. One of the'important advantages of my invention is that in beginning treatment the suction is first applied to the applicator H8 and with continued rotation of the control 98, liquid under pressure is supplied to the applicator. The impeller 53 being substantially larger than the impeller 54, a certain pressure will be created in the applicator IIB when the motor is running. This pressure will produce a distention of the applicator appropriate for the treatment which is being given and this pressure is substantially in the tank II is first brought to a comfortable temperature, the applicator H8 is placed in position for the treatment, and the control 98 is turned so as to cause the heated water to circulate through the applicator. The thermostat control I99 is progressively turned in the clockwise direction, as' viewed in Fig. 1, so as to pro- As will appear from the description above, the control I99 affects the adjustment of the thermostatic ing to the condition of adjustment of the thermostatic switch 39. It will readily be understood that the temperature of the circulating water.

can be controlled as desired by the operator, in accordance with the treatment.

Although the invention has been described in connection with the specific details of a preferred embodiment thereof, it must be understood that such details are not intended to be limitative of the invention except in so far as set forth in the accompanying claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A therapeutic device of the type described, comprising a tank for liquid to be circulated, means for heating said liquid, and a unitary structure including a flange whereby it is removably mounted on said tank and partly extending thereinto, said unitary structure comprising a motor, a pump adapted to be submerged in said liquid, and conduit means above said flange for supplying heated liquid from and to said pump.

2. A therapeutic device of the type described, comprising a tank for fluid to be heated, a cover for said tank provided with openings, a combined motor and pump unit mounted on said cover and removable as a unit therefrom, part of said unit extending through oneof. said openings into the fluid in the tank, said unit having an inlet and ano-utlet for fluid above said cover, a heating unit mounted on the cover and having a part thereof projecting through one of said openings into the flu'id in the tank, and a thermostat control for said heating unit mounted on said cover and .having a part thereof projecting through one of said openings into the fluid in the tank.

3. A therapeutic device of the type described, comprising a tank for fluid to be circulated, a

rigidly mounted, a pair of superposed pump chambers in spaced relation to,said plate, posts rigidly securing said chambers to said plate, said shaft extending freely through said chambers, and impellers in said chambers mounted on the free end of said shaft, two of said posts being hollow, one of them being connected to the inlet of one pump chamber, and the other being connected to the outlet of the other pump chamber, the outlet of first said chamber and the inlet of last said chamber being open to the exteriors of the chambers.

5. In a therapeutic device of the class described, in combination, a motor having an extended shaft, a mounting plate on which said motor is rigidly mounted, a pair of superposed pump chambers in spaced relation to said plate, posts rigidly securing said chambers to said plate, said shaft extending freely through said chambers, impellers in said chambers mounted on said shaft, two of. said posts being hollow, one of them being connected to the inlet of one pump chamber, and the other being connected to the outlet of the other pump chamber, the outlet of first said chamber and the inlet of last said chamber being open to the exteriors of the chambers, conduits connected to both said hollow posts, and a single valve member controlling communication therebetween, said valve member being adapted to put the first said chamber into communication with its conduit before putting the second said chamber into communication with its conduit.

6. In a therapeutic device of the class described,

a motor having an extended shaft, a plate on' which the motor is mounted, a pair of pump housings in spaced relation to said plate and posts securing said housings to said plates, two of said posts being hollow, one communicating with the outlet of one pump housing and the other communicating with the inlet of .the other pump housing, impellers mounted on said shaft within the housings, the impeller in the last said housing being smaller than the other impeller, a valve seat in said plate, ducts leading into said seat at circumferentially spaced positions and communicating with said hollow posts, ducts connected to external conduits leading into said valve seat, and a valve member provided with grooves adapted to put one of the last said ducts into communication with one pump housing, and the other of last said ducts into communication with the other pump housing, the valve member and its housing being arranged to provide a wider range of such communication for the housing having the smaller impeller.

ARTHUR C. KLECKNER. 

